The Lost Ones
by BespectacledSloth
Summary: Fear is a natural response to pain. All kinds of pain. Post-Apocalyptic AU. Possible character death. T for safety, language, and because it's a f***ing apocalypse out there.


Things to know: there will be no appearance of Baymax here, but he may be mentioned if I figure out what became of him. There will be no advanced armor or gadgets unless it's a flashback chapter/scene. It's an AU so none of the events of the movie apply. This includes Tadashi's death, how the friends all met Hiro, etc. Does. Not. Apply. Please do not message me if it's about one of those things listed above.

Sorry, had AU experiences in the past that have led me to have to state simple things like that before I begin the story! Thanks for understanding! ENJOY! (Or don't, I mean that's totally up to you.)

"Keep up!"

The pavement was hot beneath the pounding feet that ran across it, the hot sun beating down on it from behind the clouds of ash and smoke that turned the sky an almost sickly greenish-yellow color and left a sour taste in the air as it evaporated stagnant water, heated bodies, and boiled old blood against the surface of the ground. Only the sound of footsteps and bugs filled the air beyond the crackle of fire and occasional chirp of a siren in the far distance beyond the city. The sun wasn't the only thing keeping the air stale and hot, as buildings all over the city crumbled and continued to have the odd ember blazing beneath their rubble.

"I said keep up!"

Cars were scattered on every side of the road, only just enough room for one or two people at a time to slip between them and continue safely on their way, debris and personal possessions lay hanging from open doors and scattered out of car-top storage bins, stretched down the fronts and backs of cars like macabre confetti, littering the entire road.

"Hiro!"

Hiro jumped at the urgent call of his name. He'd been spacing out a little, gazing around at the destruction that had come to the city since everything started. How was it that all the people, everyone who had been trying to evacuate, were just gone? He knew how, of course, but it seemed impossible that everyone would just... _go_ like that.

"I'm coming," he said more softly than his name had been called, "This backpack is heavy, I'm having trouble keeping my pace," he caught up to his older brother, following alongside him as they raced through the streets towards their home. It wasn't much, but it worked and it kept them safe.

And alive.

"Well, you need to try. It's not safe out here," he pointed ahead of them a ways towards a small group of moving figures in the distance and Hiro saw him place a hand on the gun at his hip. They'd taken special precautions to go unseen, but even dressed as they were, too much noise would draw the kind of attention that could get them killed. "Make a break for home, I'll be right behind you," Tadashi said softly, choosing a blade from his backpack instead of his gun.

"But Tadashi-"

"Don't worry, I'll be _right behind you_," he whispered, never taking his eyes away from the group, "I'm just going to be keeping an eye out as we go, okay?" He darted his eyes to him briefly and gave a reassuring smile, "Go,"

Hiro watched him nervously for a second, then pulled his backpack straps tight and turned, jogging for the the other side of the street, darting between cars as he raced for the alley just across the way. He heard footsteps behind him and sincerely hoped it was Tadashi as he bolted down the alley and through to the next street, then across to a second, much slimmer, alley. He slowed his pace and turned, seeing Tadashi right behind him as he'd promised. His knife was still out, and when he saw Hiro, he stopped and turned, making sure they hadn't been followed.

"Go, go, go," he hissed, putting the knife away and quickly hoisting his brother up on his shoulders to grab a fire escape ladder.

They could hear footsteps echoing from the other end of the alley as they scrambled up the ladder and raced up the stairs to the roof of the building.

Traveling on the rooftops for some time, they made it halfway across the city before they scouted out a way down into the alley their home was in. When they had gotten down, they quickly crept across a less-car-filled street and made one final run down the sidewalk towards home.

He was panting by the time they reached the alley, and when they slipped down it into the darkness, they had to each keep an eye in each direction before they tapped three times on a door concealed behind a dumpster and slipped inside as it creaked open. They headed towards a set of stairs and made their way up as quickly as they could, their close friend Wasabi, the one who had opened the door, following closely behind them in silence. The sounds of their feet reverberated off the barren walls of the lower floor, and as they made their way up, the echo against a small trap door grew louder.

They knocked four times here, and when the hatch opened, they stepped up and into a wide room filled with sleeping bags, inflatable mattresses, stock-piled food and medical supplies, and a small selection of weapons that had been laid out on the floor near one large corner window.

"You're back," said a soft voice from nearby, "Thank goodness, we heard gunfire, we thought-"

"We're fine," Hiro said quickly, dropping his backpack on the floor and kneeling down to pull some items out, "It wasn't us firing," he glanced up at the one who had spoken, a tall blonde girl with tan skin and a slight accent, his and his brother Tadashi's friend Honey Lemon. "I found what you wanted," he said, standing up and handing her a small box of tea, "It's not completely full but it was all I could find," he handed it to her slowly, watching her eyes light up at the sight of it. He couldn't help but smile. He'd had a crush on Honey Lemon ever since they might, just shortly before everything went down, but after everything they'd been through, and after everything that could still happen, not to mention their age difference, it seemed like the kind of conversation that could wait.

Tadashi pulled some water bottles out of his backpack, "We didn't get much, but compared to the luck we've had on the last few runs to the east side of town, we know the west side hasn't been gone through as much. We should be able to make another run or two that way this week, but we need to bring a bigger group, it's the only way we'll get enough supplies to be able to lay low for awhile," he pulled out a few cans of food, setting them out with a small stock they had of canned foods and non-perishables, "And," he added, "I found something amazing," he slipped a box out of his bag. It was wrapped tightly with a few grocery bags, and he unwrapped it, showing it off, "They'll be a bit melted now, but I found them in a freezer that only just lost power. The whole store had a generator or something and all of the fridges and freezers were still cool. Nothing edible but these, though," he held up a box of rocket ice cream pops and smiled a little, the first time Hiro had seen him smile since they lost Aunt Cass at the beginning.

"That's amazing," Fred mused, coming over and grabbing the box, he held it up high, "I declare this a celebration night. A successful run, and a treat! Probably the last good box of these anywhere!" He did a little dance, but that last statement had caused everyone to pause briefly before they laughed and smiled at his foolishness. He'd still managed to keep himself together through everything that had happened.

The group, which included Wasabi, Fred, Honey Lemon, Hiro, and Tadashi, sat down to enjoy the half-liquid popsicles as the sun began to set behind the remaining buildings that made up the skyline. When it started to get dark in the room, they locked up the trap door, pushing some furniture over top of it for good measure, lit candles and switched on lanterns, and closed up the curtains to keep anyone or anything outside from seeing the light inside.

As the night wore on, they devised a plan for the next run, establishing that Tadashi, Hiro, and Wasabi would make the run and try to haul back as much as they could manage, while Honey and Fred would be ready to let them in when the time came. If they stuck to the plan everything would go just fine.

After the brief meeting about the plan, Hiro made his way to his bed, which had been placed into a separate nook at the far side of the room with a curtain for a wall so he'd have 'privacy' if he needed it. Tadashi had insisted he have his own place to exist in this new world, and—reluctantly—he'd agreed that it would be nice to have his own 'room,' not that he hadn't enjoyed sharing with his brother all his life, it was just nice for something to be _his._ Exclusively.

A light tapping alerted him to someone at his 'door,' he looked up, "Come in?"

"Hey," Honey pulled the curtain aside and stepped into the 'room,' "I thought you might want some of the fruits of your labor," she said, sitting cross-legged beside his bed and offering him a small—cracked—teacup with some lukewarm tea in it. She'd probably used one of the MRE heat packs to warm it up enough to steep.

"Thanks," he took the cup gingerly, cradling it in his left hand, and stared down at the golden-brown liquid for a moment before speaking, "So," he said softly and looked up, sighing, "So, I wonder how Go Go-"

"Hiro," Honey said in a stern yet cautious voice, glancing out of the curtain towards Tadashi and Wasabi who were huddled around a map of the city, "This isn't the time."

He nodded, sighing, and kicked the tea back in a few quick gulps, "I, uh, I'm gonna go to sleep now," and he unceremoniously shoved the teacup back into her hands and buried himself in the sleeping bag.

"Oh, right..." she stood up, "Goodnight, Hiro,"

"Night. And, uh, thanks... for the tea I mean. It was nice of you to use one of the bags on me."

She didn't anything, just smiled and nodded a little, then turned on her heel and let the curtain fall shut behind her as she left and went to her own bed near the 'kitchen' and settled in for a long night.

_"I'll be right behind you,"_

_Growling and gurgling noises filled the air, nearly drowning out the voice of his Aunt as he turned and ran from the scene, fleeing but never moving an inch, he heard her panicked screams behind him as louder growling and snarling and the snapping of jaws slurping away at her echoed through the air. He tried to run faster, but soon the hoard was upon him, dragging him down to the ground. He managed to escape somehow, and found himself somewhere else, still running in place._

_ "I'll be right behind you, now go,"_

_ He was running towards Tadashi even as the words left his older brothers mouth, silently screaming and crying out for him as the sky grew dark all around and everything suddenly set on fire. He felt too hot, and as he ran after Tadashi it only got hotter and hotter until he couldn't take it anymore. He turned and started to run away when he found himself somewhere else. He was standing in the middle of the street, there were no cars, and growling, snarling **things** were surrounding him._

_ "I'm right behind you,"_

_ He looked around, but saw no one, and he began to cry out for help, scrambling to grab his gun, he tried to fire off some rounds, but it was stuck, jammed with something, and the next thing he knew it was being ripped from his hands and it was gone. He screamed as the hoard got closer, snarling and snapping at him, inching closer and closer._

_ "I'm right behind you!" _

Hiro awoke with a scream as he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, and as he screamed a hand fastened itself over his mouth as well and he felt panic rising through his body. He lashed out and flailed his arms, landing a hit against his attacker and hearing him respond in a soft, "Ow!" as he released him. He turned, ready to spring with his hand reaching for his gun—that had somehow managed to get halfway across the room from him when he knew he'd fallen asleep with it by his bedside—only to realize that his attacker was actually Tadashi.

"Tadashi, wh-what?" he found himself out of breath and covered in a cold sweat from head to toe, his heart beating abnormally fast and loudly in his chest, he peeked past Tadashi and saw the others, baggy-eyed and standing, partially wrapped in their blankets still in some—Fred's—cases.

"You were having a nightmare. You were screaming and you tried to fire your gun, you idiot," Tadashi sighed, looking back at the trio behind him and nodding. They dispersed and he closed the curtain, moving over to the side of the bed and looking at Hiro, "What was the dream about?" he pushed Hiro's sweat-slicked hair away from his eyes and looked into them.

"Aunt Cass. You. Things," he nervously glanced at the window as a clatter sounded in the street below, "I was loud, wasn't I?"

"Practically blew it for us, but I think we'll be okay now that you're under control. It was only for a few seconds. Good thing you keep the safety on on your gun, though, or else I'd be toast," he recalled how he opened the curtain and Hiro had been aiming right at him in his sleep, "Do you need me to stay?"

Hiro thought about his dream nervously, then nodded, shuddering when Tadashi clapped him on the arm again, "Please don't do that," he whispered, sliding over in his bed as Tadashi slid under the covers with him. He laid his head on his pillow as Tadashi settled in beside him, and sighed softly, "Tadashi," he said after a very long pause.

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow," he paused for a moment, processing his words, "Tomorrow, if something happens, I-"

"Shh, let's worry about tomorrow in the morning, okay?"

"Yeah," he nodded a little, snuggling close to his brother and sniffling, "Yeah, okay,"

When Hiro had fallen fast asleep, a much more quiet and restful sleep this time, Tadashi carefully slid out of the bed and left the nook. He stepped to the window and picked up a longbow they'd managed to salvage from a sporting goods store across town, and notched an arrow to it. He stepped back to Hiro's nook, pulled the curtain over the window aside, and aimed down at the street as some clattering continued down below. He drew the bow and fired, then set the bow in the corner and crawled back into bed, cradling his distressed little brother until he, too, fell asleep.

The clattering had stopped.

So this little plot bunny is one of the reasons I'm having a hard time focusing on my other multi-chapters. Hopefully I can keep all three that I have going going strong now that I'm not working six day weeks... Who knows. Maybe update one a week, alternating weeks, or just when I know what I want to do? Hm.

For those that also read "Skin Deep" I'm stuck on the next chapter, so if you want to message me here or on tumblr with any ideas you may have, feel free to. I may end the fic before the "movie ending" but I'm not sure just yet, so send your ideas for all the stuff sandwiched in between! And for any SW Rebels readers, I'm working on Wreckage, I promise, I just needed a break to get this post-apocalyptic vibe out of my fingertips.

In other news, I found the best playlist for post-apocalypse writing and I love it.


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